NORTH HAVERHILL — A 73-year-old Bath, N.H., man who police say admitted to killing his sister-in-law and niece at his home last October has been indicted by the Grafton County grand jury.
Charles Readey faces counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his sister-in-law, Cindy Moody, 67, and her daughter, Kristal Moody, a 39-year-old West Fairlee resident, according to the Jan. 16 indictment.
The charges include two alternative counts — knowing second-degree murder and reckless second-degree murder — for the elder Moody’s death and the same two counts for the death of her daughter.
If Ready is convicted, it would be up to the jury to decide which charge, reckless or knowing, applies to each victim. Choosing between the charges would come down to what jurors determine Ready’s mental state was at the time of the shootings.
The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison.
Readey, who is currently being held in the Grafton Department of Corrections, is scheduled for an arraignment and bail hearing on Monday at 9 a.m. in Grafton Superior Court in North Haverhill.
Grafton County Attorney Jeffrey Strezlin, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.
Public defenders Monica Gasey and Jay Duguay, who are representing Readey, could not be reached by deadline.
The double-fatal shooting on Oct. 7 came after years of growing animosity between extended family members in the home on Tyler Way in Bath, the Valley News reported in October.
After the shooting, Readey told police that he had been feeling increasingly suicidal following a brain tumor operation and believed his own death was near, according to court documents.
About a month before the shooting, Readey filed an eviction petition in Haverhill District Court in an attempt to force his sister-in-law, Cindy Moody, out of the house, court records show. Moody had been living there for three years.
Cindy Moody “(was) an alcoholic and drinks all day and all night,” Sharon Readey, Readey’s wife and Cindy Moody’s sister, said in the October affidavit supporting the charges. “She does not clean up after herself or help with the house at all.”
A hearing was held on the eviction petition the day after Readey filed it in September. The court dismissed the petition a week later after Readey agreed to accept $200 in monthly rent payments from Moody “for an extended period of time,” court records state.
Six days later, on Sept. 29, Readey filed a second eviction petition against his sister-in-law. That same day, the court denied the second petition.
The shooting occurred just over a week later. Sharon Readey told police she was awoken from a nap by a “boom” and when she went downstairs, “she observed Kristal and Cindy laying on the ground,” the affidavit stated.
After his arrest, Charles Readey told state police detectives that, while trying to sleep, he heard his sister-in-law and her daughter talking outside.
According to the affidavit, Charles Readey had told both women that Kristal Moody was not allowed in his home. Ready told police he blamed her for helping her mom stay supplied with alcohol.
After hearing his sister-in-law and niece, the affidavit stated, Readey went to his bedroom, opened the rifle case, put four rounds into his pocket and went outside.
“He observed Kristal through the basement door and fired a shot that shattered the glass in the door and hit Kristal,” the affidavit states.
Cindy Moody, Readey told police, then came running over and yelled, “What did you do?”
According to the affidavit, Readey then shot her and “yelled something to the effect of ‘Look what you made me do.’ ”
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found that both mother and daughter died of gunshot wounds to the chest and their manner of death was homicide.
Those experiencing a mental health crisis can call or text the New Hampshire Rapid Response Access Point at 833-710-6477 or 988.